Pucklechurch Moat House

Has been described as a Possible Palace (Bishop)

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains

NamePucklechurch Moat House
Alternative Names
Historic CountryGloucestershire
Modern AuthoritySouth Gloucestershire
1974 AuthorityAvon
Civil ParishPucklechurch

The house is built of coursed limestone with pantiled and double Roman tiled roofs. This is a complex house, whose architectural history is complicated by the fact that it is a remnant of a much larger house called the Great House or Great Hall. At some unknown date a large part of the house was destroyed, possibly by fire. The hall and parlour block is the oldest portion, with enormously thick stone walls on three sides, and dates to the 14th century. In the late 16th century the medieval house was greatly enlarged and modified, the new work included the addition of a service wing, separated from the parlour block by a passage containing the staircase. In the late 17th-early 18th century the dairy and buttery chambers were modernised. Further alterations were carried out in the 18th century, this work included the parlour attic being reroofed, and at some date the roof behind the central gable was removed. The house was restored in the 1990s. Other buildings that are included in the farm complex are the late 16th-early 17th century stable, and the 17th century laundry house, cowshed and cartshed. (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

Medieval palace and park of Bishops of Bath and Wells, at Pucklechurch. Called by Leland 'a parke and a goodly lordshipe'. Payne felt it unlikely that this was a residential manor and that when using the deer park the bishops resided at Bath. However, Gatehouse feels Leland's account and archaeological evidence does support the suggestion of a residence here. Limited archaeological evaluations and watching briefs have found Roman and late Saxon remains suggesting a pre-Conquest house stood here, however, it is suggested the moat was relatively recent. Pucklechurch is reputedly the site of a palace of the Saxon king Edmund and is recorded as the place where he was murdered in 946 (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 946). This palace, or hunting lodge, falls out of the scope of the Gatehouse gazetteer but was at ST70217664 (Scheduled monument 1004542)

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceST697767
Latitude51.4885101318359
Longitude-2.43772006034851
Eastings369710
Northings176710
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 170
  • Hall, L., 1983, The Rural Houses of North Avon and South Gloucestershire 1400-1720 (City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery Monograph 6)
  • Verey, David, 1980, Buildings of England: Gloucestershire: The Vale and the Forest of Dean p. 326

Antiquarian

  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England  (Sutton Publishing) p. 187
  • Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 5 p. 102 online copy

Journals

  • 2002, Bristol and Avon Archaeology Vol. 17 p. 1-16
  • 2000, Bristol and Avon Archaeology Vol. 16 p. 109-10
  • Thomas, A., 1995, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol. 113 p. 201 online copy
  • Dennison, E. and Iles, R., 1985, 'Medieval Fishponds in Avon' Bristol and Avon Archaeology Vol. 4 p. 34-51

Other

  • Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) p. 153-5 (available via EThOS)
  • Samuel, J., 2001, Archaeological excavation & watching brief at Moat Farm, Parkfield Road, Pucklechurch, South Gloucestershire (Report No 622. Bristol and Region Archaeological Services reports)